A Lynbrook pizzeria was ordered to pay more than $178,000 in back wages, damages and civil penalties for failing to pay employees overtime after a federal investigation, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Regina’s Pizzeria, also identified as Lynbrook Pizza & Pasta Inc., and its owner Nunzio DiLorenzo were ordered by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to pay $84,160 in fines, the same amount in damages to affected workers and more than $9,600 in civil penalties for what the labor department described as “the violation’s willful nature.”
Messages for DiLorenzo at the pizzeria were not returned at press time, and his attorney, Jasmine Patel, did not return calls or an email seeking comment.
In all, 17 employees were shortchanged wages. They were to be paid between $57 and $31,821, with most of them to receive hundreds or thousands of dollars each.
The court’s action came after a Wage and Hour Division investigation into the eatery, which concluded that DiLorenzo failed to pay certain employees overtime when they worked more than 40 hours per week, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. The restaurant also violated the FLSA’s recordkeeping requirements by failing to keep accurate records of work hours and pay rates, according to the labor department.
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